Organizational-activity games as a method of conflict resolution

In our search for working methods in culture and cultural heritage, a significant place is occupied by studies of axiological, semantic foundations, techniques of reconstruction, and other professional directions, which help us better understand cultural phenomena. However, we all realize more and more now that culture is primarily a zone of social and even political interactions. Understanding that culture can be described as a process of transmitting and implementing norms, ideas, samples, and ideals in a specific historical situation. We know the intenseness and conflict of this sphere. What values and ideals should be and should not be transmitted? What norms and modi operandi should be implemented on the ground? These questions reside not so much in norms, values, and ideas, nor in their depth or aesthetic, substantial qualities, but rather in public dialogue and the coordination of perceptions of various groups.

Politics: the means or the end

Political analytics and applied political science (when political scientists not only write theoretical articles or give lectures, but participate in the development of programs and act as experts/advisers in the political process, too) can only exist when in a state there exists politics. Such a trite thought per se returns us once again to the question of what politics is. This question has no simple answers within the framework of the applied political knowledge. Simple answers appear when one tries to customize definitions to the realities and conventions of a concrete country; when it is supposed that if there is a state, then there is politics as well, and this politics corresponds to the realities and conditions in this concrete state. “If in Belarus there is a state, then there is politics there, too” – this statement is rather doubtful, although it corresponds to common sense and ordinary reasonableness

Десоветизация: парадигматика и прагматика

Десоветизация – процесс содержательной и структурной трансформации института власти в обществе, означающий разоформление, деконструкцию, ликвидацию того типа организации институтов власти, который известен в истории как “советская власть”, и оформление, конструирование и установление иного типа института власти, например правового государства.

Чего не хватает, чтобы ответить на вопрос: “Как нам обустроить Россию”?

Предположим, что есть некто, кто может поставить перед собой вопрос: “Как нам обустроить Россию?”, кроме того, этот некто может рассчитывать на то, что его ответ будет иметь хоть какой-то практический эффект. Пока можно не брать в расчет реализацию плана, ограничимся только принятием к рассмотрению предложений по обустройству. Что нужно знать, понимать и уметь ставящему вопрос об обустройстве России перед собой и отвечающему на него?

Freedom and Thinking. Essays on Civil Society (book)

Excerpts from the book.
The author analyses the foundations of civil society and the role media, public opinion, and the state play in its development and maintenance, how civil society relates to the nation, to different actions and practices of public participation. 
Moving on to current challenges, Uladzimir Matskevich examines in detail the evolution of social connections and relations and raises questions about new forms of civil society in the contemporary era.

Thinking Belarus!

What should the eye be equipped with for Belarus to “be”? What can you oppose to the evidence? The answer given by the whole history of European thought is that the opposite of evidence is speculation. The eye must be equipped with the mind. Only reason can create Belarus. This country, unlike Russia, should be intelligible to the mind. You can also believe in Belarus, the faith helps retain the memory about Belarus for a couple of centuries of the country’s absence within the space of the evident and to keep European identity in times of Asian rule of barbarity. The transition from faith to reason, from dream to realization is difficult and one should carry out such a transition carefully, cautiously and meticulously.

Taking Responsibility for Oneself. Notes of a Philosopher With a Tart Temper (book)

Excerpts from the book.
The book consists of three parts. The first part, “My Place of Power”, is about the philosopher’s and intellectual’s self-identification in political and public practice, their place and work. The second part, “Lack of Meaning”, analyses the situation in the country on the eve of transformations and upheavals. Uladzimir Matskevich explores the nature of the contemporary Belarusian dictatorship, the state of the public sphere, moods, identity, and social foundations for change in society. The third part, “Coming After You”, is a performative statement. It contains an open letter to the president and proposals for a course of action for political leaders. After the events of 2020-2021, these proposals serve both as an imprint of that political situation and a basis for reflection and criticism of revolutionary action.

Политика: средство или цель

Собственно, программа действий, изложенная в 1994 году по-прежнему сохраняет свою актуальность. В практическом плане мы никуда не сдвинулись в Беларуси с 1994 года. Все, чем мы располагали, три года продолжает разрушаться. Но есть надежда, что мы немножко поумнели. Если это так, то — просто есть надежда

Книга: Вопреки очевидности (2006)

В настоящий сборник включены ранее опубликованные тексты беларусского методолога и философа Владимира Мацкевича: «Беларусь: вопреки очевидности» (1994 г.), «Беларусская де­мократия: вопреки очевидности» (1996 г.), «Политика: средство или цель» (1997 г.).

Книга: Общественный диалог в Беларуси: от народовластия к гражданскому участию (2012)

Цель книги — сформировать рефлексивное и разумное отношение к организации общественного диалога в Беларуси, предложить понятия, категории и схемы для деятельного отношения к этому процессу.